


Behind Blue Lenses

by Holtzmann1998, Queenofcolors



Category: ghostbusters 2016
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-27
Updated: 2017-11-17
Packaged: 2018-10-24 11:46:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 12,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10741077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Holtzmann1998/pseuds/Holtzmann1998, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Queenofcolors/pseuds/Queenofcolors
Summary: AU where you are Holtzmann's girlfriend and also a Ghostbuster. This take place after Erin leaves the team but before Abby is possessed.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Tooky86](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tooky86/gifts).



“Alright, I'm frustrated, I quit.” You sigh as you push your paperwork away and shut your laptop. Abby smiles sadly to you from across the booth as she looks up from her work. Your face softens and you look at her over your blue lensed glasses Holtzmann had given you. “You alright?” You give Abby a small smile.

“I'm fine, just stupid.” Abby sighs. You stand up and walk over to her, sitting next to her and wrapping her in a hug. 

“You're not stupid. Erin is just going through some emotions that she doesn't know how to handle.” You pat Abby on the back and give her a squeeze.

“What about me? I have emotions, too.” Abby says in frustration. “She just left like she did when we were younger.”

“I know, but Erin feels the need to isolate herself when she doesn't understand her feelings. That's just what she does. She'll be back.” Abby gives you a questioning look.

“Trust me, I know it will happen.” You say with a wink. Abby suppresses a smile. “There's that smile. I'm going to go to the back and nap off my frustration. Let me know when Holtz and Patty get back with lunch.” You say as you stand up.

“Alright, I will.” Abby smiles to you. You walk to the makeshift bedroom and open the old, wooden door. The room has a mattress, a dresser, and a mirror. It's bland, but it's all someone would need if they were too tired to go home. You walk over to the mattress, it was Holtz's doing. It was a proper bed at one point, but she used the metal frame and other parts of the bed for experiments. You flopped onto the mattress and stared at the ceiling, thinking to yourself about your life.

“Being a Ghostbuster is awesome. Sure, I don't get to go out and hunt ghosts because Holtz thinks it's too dangerous, but I get to do behind the scenes stuff like make Kevin do his job, make coffee, keep Kevin from drinking said coffee, keep track of who calls, I get to help my awesome girlfriend build possibly deadly things from time to time, help Abby when she's feeling down, find books to read with Patty, and just chat or sit in silence with Erin.” Your thoughts went to Erin. “What if she doesn't come back? ‘I know it will happen’ is just my go to phrase that seems to make people feel better. I hope she comes back, it's not the same without her.”

“Abby! We brought you a sandwich so you don't be pickin’ off of ours, man! You need some food, your moods have been real bad, yo, come on now.” You hear Patty yell from the main part of the floor.

“Abby, you in there?” Holtz yells.

“Why wouldn't she be here?” You ask yourself. She hadn't left, she would have let you know if she did. You get off the mattress and go to open the door. It won't budge. “What the hell?” You try again, pushing on the door. You press your ear to the door, trying to hear what Holtzmann is saying. Their voices are muffled when they aren't yelling. You can hear Abby’s voice. That brings you some comfort. “Hey, guys, I'm stuck. The door won't open!” You call out. No one hears you. “Patty! I need help!” Nothing. You bang and kick the door, knowing someone would have to hear you, but nothing. A loud crash causes you to jump.

“What are you doing?” Holtzmann yells.

“Holtzmann? What's going on?” You yell.

“Not my babies!”

“Holtzmann, are you okay?” You yell. The crashing continues.

“Hey, wait a minute!” Patty yelled. You know something is wrong if Patty is getting involved. The crashing stops. You can hear Holtzmann and Abby struggling over something and Patty saying something to them. You had enough of this damn door. Your friends need you and you're not going to let a piece of wood stand in your way. You walk to the end of the room opposite the door, and run at it full speed, hitting it with your shoulder. You fall to the floor, throbbing pain consuming your shoulder. You get up and run at it again, this time the door splits down the middle, showering you in splinters. You fall to the floor into a puddle of thick, green slime. The fall causes splinters to lodge themselves in your hair, legs, shorts, hands, everywhere and your glasses fly off your face. You pay no attention to the pain or glasses. You jump up and rush into the main part of the floor where the commotion is. You get there just in time to see Abby send Holtzmann flying across the room.

“Holtz!” You try to yell. No sound comes out of your mouth. It's like someone muted you. Abby glances at you and smiles. It's not an Abby smile. Something it wrong. You try to rush to her, but can't. Something is keeping you planted in place. You look at Holtz, her nose is bleeding and her eyes are closed. She's clenching and relaxing different muscles in her body. You turn your attention away long enough to see Abby chuck the metal pipe you and Holtz found in a dumpster at Patty.

“Knock it off, Abby!” You want to yell. Holtz begins to stir. “Stay down, Holtz. Please stay down.” You beg. Abby notices her and walks towards her, grabbing her by the neck. Your eyes go wide as you fight viciously against whatever is holding you down. Holtz gives you a frightened look, something you've never seen on her face before.

“Look at the view.” Abby says before pushing Holtzmann through the window. You glance at Patty, who jumps up and rushes to Holtzmann’s aid.

“Goodbye.” Abby says. Your heart stops as Abby lets go of Holtzmann. Time seems to slow down as Patty says something and rushes towards the window, grabbing at Holtzmann. Time seems to instantly speed up when you see Holtz’s limp hand in Patty’s strong arm. You watch Abby and Patty battle for Holtz’s life. Suddenly, in a burst of strength, Patty pulls Holtzmann to safety. She's still out cold, her nose bleeding, her arms covered in cuts and glass and blood, her clothes shining from glass shards.

“Get outta my friend, ghost!” Patty screams as she slaps Abby. A blue vapor rushes out of her as she screams in pain. “The power of Patty compels you!” Patty screams as she slaps Abby again. Abby screams out in pain again. You run full speed towards them, suddenly being able to move. You slide on your knees, splinters digging deeper into your skin, to Holtzmann.

“Holtz, are you okay? Say something, baby.” You say to her as you brush some of the glass off her face. Small pieces of glass stick to the slime on your arms and shirt. Fear strikes your heart again. Abby and Patty are at the window, yelling at Kevin. “Holtz, you gotta wake up. You're going to be okay, you just gotta wake up.” You keep talking to your girlfriend, trying to get her to do something besides sleep.

“What happened to you?” Abby cries as she sees your bruised and swollen shoulder and splinter and smile covered body. Patty's eyes go wide at the sight.

“Not important. If you can manage to do so without murdering anyone or sending a third person out that window, you can get me a bowl of warm water, some tweezers, and a few rags.” You snap at her. She doesn't look at you and rushes off. “Holtz, please, you gotta wake up.” You say, noticing that your hands are shaking. 

“Get yourself taken care and let me help Holtzy.” Patty says, she goes to place a hand on your shoulder, but decides not to as she sees the splinters and bruise. “What did you do?”

“I'm not leaving her. She wouldn't leave me so I'm not leaving her.” You pause. “The door wouldn't open, so I smashed it.” You turn your attention back to Holtz. “Please, do something! Open your eyes, lick me, poke me, tickle me, I don't care, just do something!” You say loudly. “I'm taking off her clothes, there's a lot of glass on them.”

“Baby, you're covered in wood, you have to be in pain.”

“Wood isn't glass. It doesn't continue to cut and dig and scratch. I'm fine.” You work hard to undo the knot in the tie on Holtz’s neck. Your hands are shaking badly.

“Let me help.” Patty says softly.

“I can do it. She's my girlfriend.” You snap. You get it undone and gently lift Holtzmann's head to get rid of the tie. She stirs. “Jill, baby, wake up.” You say.

“Maybe tomorrow.” She mumbles. Abby returns in the room.

“Here's the stuff.” Abby says softly. Holtz’s eyes shoot open. She looks at Abby in fear and places herself between you and Abby. She looks like a rabid animal, ready to fight back if Abby attacks the one thing that's precious to her. Her body is obviously weak and she's in pain, but she refuses to back down.

“Calm down Holtz, Abby is Abby again.” Patty says gently. Holtz doesn't move. She swallows hard.

“What the fuck, Abby?” Holtzmann growls, ignoring Patty.

“It was Rowan! Go look in the bathroom, it's covered in ghost goo!” Abby says. Holtzmann doesn't move. “Even your girlfriend is covered in the goo!” You make a disgusted face as you look at the slime covering your arms and clothes.

“Alright, that's enough, knock it off.” Patty says, gently lifting Holtzmann to her feet. “We need to get you two cleaned up.” Holtz looks confused for a moment until she looks at you. Her eyes go wide as she sees the wood and the bruise.

“What did you do to her?” She glares at Abby as Patty makes her walk over to the booth. Holtz sits on the table, Abby begins to work on removing glass from Holtzmann's skin, Patty removes glass from her clothes, and you walk up to her face.

“Here, let me clean up the blood.” You whisper softly to Holtzmann as you pick up a rag and place it in the warm water. You ring it out and reach to wipe away the blood on her face. She gently places a hand on your wrist.

“What happened to you?” She asks, her face full of worry.

“The door wouldn't open, so I smashed it.” You flash Holtzmann a charming smile. Her face is still full of worry. “I fell into a puddle of slime when I went through the door.”

“Why didn't you wait on us to help?” Holtzmann moves her hand from your wrist to your cheek.

“I heard a crash and you yelling and I…” You trail off. You fall silent as you gently wipe the blood from Holtzmann’s face. Her blue eyes continue to stare at you.

“What? You wanted to play the hero?” She asks, somewhat frustrated.

“No.” You say quietly. Patty and Abby glance at the two of you before quickly returning to working on Holtzmann, acting as though they can't hear you.  
“What was it? No sane person would kill themselves trying to get through a door!” She says loudly, causing you to flinch. Holtzmann was overprotective of you, but she rarely got that mad at you.

“I was scared, alright?” You yell back as you pull away from her. “I was fucking terrified that you were hurt. I heard a crash and assumed something that gone wrong with a machine or someone was breaking in and you were in danger. I'm allowed to worry about you, Jillian. One wrong move and you could kill yourself in a second. That terrifies me. That terrifies me to no end and what makes it worse is you act like it's all some game. You're fine with leaving bombs out for Kevin to play with, knowing one wrong move will set it off and kill everyone. That scares the hell out of me. I have nightmares of you not waking up because you messed up an experiment and the radiation killed you. I have nightmares of you getting hurt at work. So yes, if breaking down the door like an idiot because I was terrified you were hurt was me wanting ‘to play the hero’, then yes, I was playing hero.” You snap. Her now clean and slightly scratched face is full of shock. Patty and Abby stare at the two of you in silence. “Screw it. You don't understand fear. You're just some fearless psychopath like Dr. Gorin.” You say as you set the rag on the table beside her and walk away.

“She's afraid of small children and physical contact.” You hear Holtzmann mumble.

“Holtzy, just shut up. You get any deeper in the doghouse and you'll be under it.” Patty says to her as you storm off towards the bedroom. You pause at the bedroom door frame. Half of the door is hanging from the hinges, the other half is on the floor, and the little pieces in-between are either in the puddle of slime or under your skin. You walk into the bedroom and carefully take off your slime covered shirt, trying not to irritate the splinters covering you. You do the same with your shorts and toss them into a pile by the door before kicking off your shoes and socks and laying down next to the mattress. You close your eyes, trying to dispel the rollercoaster of emotions you had just been taken on. Feeling emotionally drained, physically sore, and just plain tired, you easily fall into a dreamless sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

“Don't wake her up.” You hear someone whisper harshly. You flinch and jump as something cold is placed on your shoulder. You open your eyes to see Abby and Holtzmann sitting next to the mattress. “You woke her up.” Abby smiles slightly. You look at Holtzmann and see bandages covering five scratches on her face. Gauze covers both of her arms and she has ice packs duct taped to her neck. Her blonde hair is down, showing off her curls. Her blue eyes stare deeply into yours.  
“Let's get you fixed up.” She says softly with a forced smile. She wraps a cold rag around your shoulder and holds it in place with duct tape. She and Abby work with tweezers to remove the splinters from your body. Patty walks in the room and shoves her phone in her pocket.  
“I can't reach Erin.” She says. “Toss me some tweezers and we'll work on stubborn over there.” She winks at you.  
“Hey, babe?” Holtzmann says. She draws in a shaky breath as she focuses on removing the splinters from one of your hands.  
“Ow, that hurts!” You say to Abby, who is trying to dig a splinter out of your knee. “What is it, Jillian?” You say, trying to sound mad but not too mad.  
“If you hadn't been sliding on the floor or busting through doors it wouldn't hurt.” Abby said bluntly.  
“Are you, I mean, do you….” She trails off.  
“Spit it out, Jillian.” You sigh.  
“Are you actually afraid?” She says quickly. Silence falls upon the room. Holtzmann doesn't look at you, she's pretending to be focused on your hand. You sigh.  
“No, afraid doesn't even begin to describe it. I love you. More than I love myself, more than Kevin loves his reflection in the fish tank, more than Abby loves soup, more than you love doing all this dangerous stuff. Holtz, when you think about the future, you see experiments and your career. You never see what kind of people will be in your life, who will stay, who will leave, who will die, things like that. I think about it every day, and every day I worry that you won't be there in the future because you tested your luck and it ran out. I know risks have to be taken in your line of work, but I don't want Abby to call me in the middle of the night to tell me you killed yourself in an experiment gone wrong. I can't see my life without you in it. Maybe you don't think that way, but I do. I think of everything that can go wrong at any second and the idea of losing you is scary as hell to me.” You say softly, avoiding her eyes. She looks at you.  
“I saw you, standing in the doorway when Not Abby grabbed me by the neck. I was afraid she'd see you and hurt you. I don't want you to get hurt. It's because of me that you're a Ghostbuster and if you got hurt while being here or hunting a ghost, it'd be my fault. I don't want to be the reason someone got hurt or even killed. I don't want to face that guilt again.” A look of sadness and fear and worry and confusion spread across Holtz’s face. Her shining eyes dulled and her shoulders stiffened.  
“Holtz, that time at your old lab was different. He's the one who spilled that soda on the machine and caused the accident.” Abby says softly as the places a hand on her back. “Besides, you're a lot more careful now.”  
“That's more careful?” Patty whispered. You can't help but smile a little at her comment. The phone rang, snapping everyone away from the sad and depressing tension that had filled the room. Holtzmann quickly got up to get it.  
“So, how bad is it?” You sigh to Abby.  
“I think the door has lead paint and as deep as some of these splinters are, I'm going to give maybe a year.” She says seriously as she continues to take out splinters.  
“What?” You ask, eyes wide with fear.  
“I'm kidding. You'll be fine. Sore as hell, but fine.” Abby smiles. Patty removes a splinter from your arm.  
“Don't go crashing through anymore doors.”  
“I don't really plan on it.” You say flatly. There are a few moments of silence. Holtzmann quietly enters the room.  
“How much more do we have to get?” She asks. The sad tension in the room seems to return.  
“Five, if that, and then her other hand.” Patty says, focusing on one of the splinters. Holtzmann nods, walks over to you, and picks up a pair of tweezers. She gently holds your hand as she carefully plucks splinters from your palm. You watch her and how her face changes expressions ever so slightly. Her curls are still loose and you use your free hand to play with them and feel their crunchy texture from the hairspray she uses. A small smile forms on her lips as her hand begins to relax.  
“What was the call about?” Patty asks.  
“End of the world stuff. Ghosts everywhere.” Holtzmann shrugs.  
“That’s not a shrugging thing, Holtzy. You don't just shrug off the end of the world.” Patty says as she pulls the last splinter out of your knee.  
“We can handle it.” Holtz smiles as she digs out a splinter from your palm.  
“We only have three people, we don't have a full team.” Abby says.  
“We have four.” Holtzmann says with uncertainty. She rips one last splinter from your hand and walks over to the dresser. She takes a folded jumpsuit out of it and hands it to you. “What do you say, Ghostbuster?” You look at her in awe and take the jumpsuit, quickly throwing it on. Holtzmann’s name is printed on the tag, showing you that she had several of them for whatever reason.  
“Let's get to work!” You grin. The four of you walk to the main part of the headquarters. You take a look at the proton packs, some of them are sparking and some of them seem untouched. You carefully take a sparking one off the wall and place it on Holtzmann’s workbench. You take a screwdriver and pop open the front panel.  
“What are you doing?” Holtzmann asks with alarm, causing you to jump.  
“Fixing the proton packs. This one has a short in the wire that powers the heating coil and the cooling fan. Without either of those, you'd blow yourself up after two blasts.” Holtzmann looks at you, dumbfounded at how you know so much about her machines.  
“How?” She manages to say.  
“I've studied your machines and I've watched you build them. Plus, you talk to yourself when you build things and I can pretty much figure out what is what and what goes where.”  
“She's good.” Patty says to Abby as the two of them leave to change. Holtzmann stares at you blankly.  
“Holtz, are you alright?” You ask her. She doesn't respond. “Holtzmann.” Nothing. You down the screwdriver and places your hands on her face. “Jillian!” You say loudly.  
“Yeah?” She asks, snapping out of her trance.  
“I think you need to lie down for a bit. You're pretty banged up.”  
“I'm fine, I'm fine.” She smiles almost drunkenly.  
“No, go lie down.” You command. She gives you a blunt look. “You heard me, go lie down while I work on this. I'll get you when they're ready.” She doesn't move. “I'll get Patty.”  
“You wouldn't.” She says coldly.  
“Pa-” Holtzmann quickly covers your mouth her hand.  
“Alright, alright. I'll go lie down.” She grumbles. She slowly wanders to the bedroom. You go back to working on the proton packs, wondering why things looked different. You went to push your glasses up, a nervous tick you developed, and started yourself when you touched your nose. Your glasses were gone. You decide to wear Holtzmann’s favorite yellow-lensed goggles while you work on the packs. You didn’t enjoy seeing the world in color, you prefer the darker shade of blue your glasses provide, but you didn’t have time to go search for your glasses until the packs were fixed. After an hour and a half, several more calls about ghosts, a lecture from Abby on working faster, a lecture to Abby from you about how rushing you could kill everyone, a laugh from Patty, three minor electrical shocks, one spontaneous combustion, and five minutes were you thought you cut your finger off, the proton packs were ready.  
“They’re done!” You smile to yourself proudly. You quickly placed a pile of screws and wires next to the proton pack sitting on the table. It was Patty’s.  
“About time!” Abby says grumply as she grabs her pack off the wall.  
“What’s with all those screws and parts?” Patty asks as she takes her pack and straps it on.  
“They are what I took out of all the proton packs. I don’t think they’re important.” You lie. Abby and Patty give you a concerned look. “I’m kidding, Holtz has stockpiles of this stuff so I might as well make use of it.”  
“That not funny.” Patty sighs. “Get Holtz and we’ll get the car.” She says before walking off.  
“Hey, Patty?” You call to her.  
“Yeah, baby?” Patty replies as she momentarily returns.  
“Have you seen my glasses?”  
“Which ones? The ones you wear or the ones you’re supposed to wear?”  
“The ones I always wear.” You reply flatly.  
“Check the hallway.” You walk away from Holtz’s bench and go to the hallway. Your classes aren’t there. You look the bedroom and find your glasses on the floor, a few feet from Holtz’s hand. She didn’t make it to the bed, she had passed out on the floor about five feet away from the mattress. You pick up the glasses and put them on your face, enjoying the dark blue color they brought upon the world around you.  
“Only you, Holtzmann.” You sigh, a small smile appearing on your face. “It’s time to wake up.” You say softly as you lie down on the floor beside her. She doesn’t budge. You gently kiss her lips  
“I didn’t hide the fire extinguisher!” Holtzmann mumbled as she turns her head away from you.  
“Holtzmann, your girlfriend messed up a proton pack and it knocked her out the window.” You say.  
“She okay?”  
“She died.” You reply flatly, not getting the reaction you had hoped for.  
“Oh well, plenty of women in the sea.” You stand up and take a pillow from the mattress and hit Holtzmann with it. She opens her eyes and smiles at you. “I thought you said you were dead?”  
“You’re an ass.” You roll your eyes.  
“So are you.”  
“Are you ready to go?” You ask Holtzmann.  
“I have to put on my uniform.”  
“Put it on, then.”  
“I don’t wanna.”  
“You gotta.”  
“Why?”  
“Proton pistols.” You say with a smile, knowing that would convince her to get up. She lets out a sigh and slowly gets up and walks to the dresser, pulling out another uniform and slipping it on over the clothes. She glances at your shirt and shorts still on the floor.  
“You may want to dispose of those, you’ll never get the slime out. Just ask Erin.” You groan, that was your favorite shirt.  
“I gotta ask, are the proton pistols you're working on actually safe?” You ask.   
“Nothing I create is safe.”   
“Obviously.” The two of you walk out of the room and down to the Ecto-1. Holtz and Abby sit in the front and you sit in the back next to Patty.


	3. Chapter 3

“Lets do this.” Abby sighs.   
“Oh yeah.” Patty smiles. Holtzmann revs the engine of the Ecto-1 and drives off.  
“This is so cool, my first bust!” You say excitedly as Holtzmann drives as dangerously as possible.   
“Maybe you'll get slimed since you're takin’ Erin's place.” Patty smiles.   
“I already fell in smile once today.” You reply.  
“Erin gets like full blown vomit slime.” Your smile falters a bit.   
“Holtz, drive more carefully! You don't want to kill your girlfriend, do you?” Abby says as she grabs the safety bar in the hearse. Holtz glances at you through the rearview mirror. You notice her grip tighten on the steering wheel. Amidst the kaoss of New York traffic and a Cataclysm, Holtzmann drives a lot slower and safer. Within minutes, the hearse is stopped by a roadblock of food carts and other miscellaneous items.  
“We seem to have hit an impasse.” Holtzmann says matter of factly as she slows to a stop.  
“Yeah, I'd say so.” Abby replies. You look at the wreckage piled up in front of you. Everyone carefully gets out of the car. “Alright, let's clear a path.”  
“You guys, this looks like my kitchen.” Holtzmann grins.  
“No, this looks more sanitary and safer than your kitchen.” You reply. You all walk closer the mess. You jump when you hear something rattling inside one of the food carts. Holtzmann guards you, ready to kill, or re-kill, whatever comes out of the cart. Suddenly, a green blob shoots out of one the carts. “What the fuck?” You yell in surprise.   
“What the hell is that thing?” Abby says in awe. It turns around and lets out a loud, pungent bleach before charging at you. Holtzmann pulls you out of its path as it flies by, pulling you close to her protectively. The creature laughs as it floats by.   
“Ew.” You hear Holtzmann mumble.   
“Hey, hey!” Abby yells at it as it files into the Ecto-1. It somehow starts the car. “Oh, really? Did you leave the keys in the car?” She says to Holtzmann. It backs the hearse up, smashing into things in the process.   
“I thought Holtzmann’s driving was bad.” You mumble.  
“My uncle is going to be pissed.” Patty says in awe. The creature smiles evilly and lets out a roar before it drives towards you and the other girls.  
“Okay, let's light him up!” Abby yells. Everyone except Holtzmann gets their proton guns ready.  
“No, don't shoot!” Holtzmann yells. “The equipment on top of that is basically a nuclear reactor.” She says surprisingly calmly.   
“What?” Abby says.   
“Okay, I vote we don't shoot at that.” Patty says.  
“I second that vote.” You reply. You notice the hearse getting faster and closer to you all. Holtzmann, Abby, and Patty all dodge. You don't react fast enough. The impact from the car knocks the wind out of you and the impact from hitting the food carts knocks you out completely, but the pain doesn't allow you to sleep for long.   
“Can you hear me?” Holtzmann is yelling at you. She has your head in her hands and she's shaking you. You're on the ground, covered in something red.   
“Stop screaming at me!” You yell back. She gives you a concerned look.   
“How many fingers am I holding up?” Abby asks as she shoves her hand in your face, all five fingers up.  
“Four fingers.” She gives you a concerned look. “And your thumb.” You add. “Where's Patty?” You ask, looking for her, trying to talk off the pain.  
“I'm right here, baby.” She replies calmly as she walks towards you, a metal box in hand. She gets on her knees next to you and unzips you jumpsuit.   
“What are you doing?” You ask, noticing the pain in your head.   
“Patching you up.” She replies as she carefully examines your left leg. She opens the box and pulls out a cloth and a bottle.  
“What's that stuff?”  
“Nothing, baby.” She says softly. “Hold her down, Holtz.” Holtzmann pins your arms down.   
“Why do I need to be held down?” You ask as Patty puts some of the liquid onto the cloth. She doesn't answer. You feel nervous. The cold cloth comes in contact with your hot blood and skin. It sends waves of pain down your body. You yell out. “Patty, stop! Please, Patty, stop!” You scream as she cleans up your leg. You notice just how much blood is coming out of your leg.   
“We have to get you cleaned up.” Patty says calmly. Abby is standing back, making sure nothing sneaks up on you all.   
“I'm fine.” You lie. Holtz glares at you.  
“You almost died.” She says coldly.   
“Almost is the key word.” You mumble as Patty puts a cotton cloth on the gash in your leg. She carefully wraps it in gauze.  
“It'll do for now, but if it bleeds out anymore, you'll have to call it quits.” Patty sighs as she stands up. “Can you stand?” She holds her hand out to you. You take it and she pulls you to your feet. You feel light headed. Patty passes you to Holtzmann, who strokes your hair.   
“I'm fine.” You mumble, trying to remove the cloudiness from your mind. Holtzmann zips up your jumpsuit. She's oddly quiet.  
“We should take you back.” She says sternly.  
“We don't have a car and there's no time. We have to keep going.” You reply, putting weight on your leg and feeling more pain. Your head, back, and leg feel like they're being stabbed by tiny creatures.   
“Let's get moving, we don't have much time, especially without Erin and your girlfriend hurt.” Abby says to Holtzmann. She nods in reply and walks away from you. You pick up your proton pack from the ground and notice a gash in the side. You don't want to slow anyone down, so you ignore it and strap it on. Patty, Abby, and Holtzmann walk ahead of you as you limp behind them.  
“I think we need to turn here to get there.” Abby says, pointing to a street on the right.  
“No, it's this way.” Patty says, pointing to the street ahead of the group.   
“If you say so.” Abby follows Patty’s directions. In a daze, you turn right. You continue to mindlessly walk down the empty road, not paying attention to the silence that had gathered around you. You feel something ooze down your leg, but ignore it. The sound of something scraping against the buildings ahead of you causes you to stop and realize you are alone. You see parade balloons ahead of you, floating by.   
“I've seen babies prettier than some of those balloons.” You mumble, scrunching up your face in disgust. A balloon seems to hear you and floats away from the pack towards you. After a moment of questioning, you realize it's supposed to be a balloon of a Tyrannosaurus with an old cereal logo on it. You quickly spin around, trying to limp away from the balloon and back to the Ghostbusters before it catches you. Death by balloon was how Holtz always dreamed of going, not you.


	4. Chapter 4

You limp towards the main road, knowing the girls wouldn’t be too far away. The balloon continues to loom closer and closer to you. You seem to get a second wind of adenine and your mind becomes clear enough for you to somewhat assess your situation. You force yourself to speed up despite the pain to create some distance between you and the balloon. You unclip the proton wand from the proton pack. You know the proton pack isn’t the safest thing to use, but you don’t seem to have an option. You aim the proton pack at the balloon and pull the trigger. The pack fails and in a burst of neutral energy, sends you flying backward. You are confused as you look at your surroundings, but quickly recover. You don’t have time to do anything to the proton pack but fire it again and hope being thrown back fixed whatever was wrong with it. You quickly crouch, making yourself as small and steady as possible. You pray the machine fires without throwing you back again or blowing you up. Combustion was always a possibility. The balloon is closer now, it’s mouth is about ten feet away from you. You don’t have any more time to think. You pull the trigger. A blue beam shoots out from the proton wand and hits the balloon in its mouth. After a moment of hope and tension, the balloon finally gives away and pops, covering you in pieces of cloth. You pause for a moment, taking in what just happened. You realize you don’t have to think, you have to find the girls. Finding a metal beam on the ground among balloon pieces, you use it as a crutch to move faster. You limp around the corner in time to hear a giant pop.  
“Proton guns are all well and good, but sometimes, you need the Swiss Army.” Erin says, holding up the knife you had given Holtzmann. It kind of hurt seeing Erin with the gift you had given Holtzmann, but you tried to ignore it as you hobbled over towards them.  
“Welcome back!” Holtzmann happily yells to Erin. “Am I shouting?”  
“Yeah.” Erin says.  
“I think the balloon popped in my ear!”  
“Let’s go save the city and get out terrible receptionist back. We’re not going to find another one that pretty.” Abby says as she winks at you. Holtzmann notices this and turns around to face you. Her happy grin turns into an even happier grin.  
“Where were you?” She asks as you all run/limp towards the tall building with spirits surrounding it.   
“I got lost.” You look away from her sadly. She picks pieces of balloon out of your hair.  
“What happened to you?”  
“Nothing, I popped a T-Rex.” You shrug her off coldly.  
“What?” She asks surprised and confused.  
“Possessed balloon. It wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle.” You say as emotionless as possible.  
“Are you okay?” She asks, holding your shoulders so you face her.  
“I’m fine, Jillian.”  
“What did I do wrong now? You only call me Jillian when you’re pissed.” She asks, her persona fading and become serious.  
“Why don’t you ask that girl you’ve been crushing on? You know, the one you gave your knife to?” You say.   
“Yeah, I gave her my-” She stops mid-sentence as she realizes what is going on.  
“I love Erin as a person, but since the day you met her, all you do is talk about her and how amazing she is and how cool she is and how strong she is a bla, bla, bla. Now you give her the knife I gave you. How about I constantly talk about how beautiful and charming and sweet Abby is and give her the glasses you made me?” You snap quietly. She gives you a hurt and shocked look. “Just forget it. Go and make out with the woman of your dreams. I’m going to help save the world.” You say before limping away to join Abby, Patty, and Erin, leaving Holtzmann staring at you in shock. Abby notices you are limping on your own and quickly rushed to allow you to lean on her so you can move quicker. You can feel Holtzmann’s jealousy and confusion mixing with your own. Patty gives you both a glace, feeling the same thing.


	5. Chapter 5

“Welcome to the glory days of New York City!” Kevin’s voice booms out of nowhere. “Have fun!” He says with a laugh. A tall ghost steps over you while smaller ones fly around you.  
“I’ve never been good in a fight.” Erin says nervously.  
“Well, good news, news your chance to work on that.” Abby says as the tall ghost stands in front of you. A blue-green fog fills the area.  
“Guys, you all have your side arms, I suggest you use them.” Holtzmann says calmly as three ghosts emerge from the blue-green fog.  
“No shit, Sherlock.” You growl.  
“Okay, powerup.” Abby says nervously, ignoring you. You all reach for your proton wands at once, like trained soldiers preparing for war. The three ghosts charge at you, you all fire proton beams at it, except for you, your pack doesn’t release a beam. You grab your new weapon and power it on. It was a surprise, Holtzmann told you that you would know how to use use it when you picked it up. You held the heavy object in your hands. It looked like a metal pole.   
“What the fuck is this?” You mumble. As though that were the secret to unlock it, it comes to life, it glows a bright shade of red-orange. A proton sword. Holtzmann figured out how to make a proton sword. Now you knew what happened to your favorite katana. “This isn’t useful, Jillian!” You yell as you stab ghosts. She can't hear you, she’s too busy fighting for her life, as are the other women. Straighten your glasses and rush into battle, like a proud soldier. You slash through a ghost and glance at Jillian again.  
“Holtzy, get on, get down!” Patty yells. You turn around in time to see a ghost throw an axe at Holtz’s head. Your heart stops and time seems to slow down as you swing your sword, causing a proton ball to fly off it and knock the axe off course. It hits a ghost in the chest just inches from Abby. Abby then deals with the ghost. Holtz looks at you.  
“What the hell did you make?” You call out to her.  
“Combination sword and bat. It creates it’s own balls, you just have to swing. Heh, balls.” She smiles at her own words like a twelve year old.  
“Real mature.” You roll your eyes as you turn away from her. You’re surprised she remembered that you used to play softball, but you’re still mad at her. You rush away to knock down some ghosts.  
“Sorry.” You hear Jillian mumble as you walk away. A ghost jumps in front of you. You swing the sword, sending a proton ball flying at his head and sending it flying.  
“Strike three, you’re out.” You say, trying to sound cool. It failed.   
“Holtzy, I got you!” Patty yells. You ignore it, knowing she’ll be fine. “It’s chippin’ time now, ghost!” She fires up the ghost chipper. “This is what you get for sittin’ on me!” You get caught up in your own battle with a large ghost and don’t notice what happens to Holtz. No one is screaming, so you assume she’s fine. A ghost appears behind you and squeezes your ribs, causing you to scream out in pain and drop your weapon.  
“I forgot about my new toys.” Holtzmann says calmly with something hidden in her voice. You hear her activate something as you struggle against the ghost’s grip. You can’t breathe, you can't fight back. Spots form in your vision as the ghost squeezes tighter. You accept your fate. “Let’s go!” You see a flash of light that you recognise as proton lights. It hits the two ghosts and you fall to the ground. You look to see who saved you and see a very pissed off Holtzmann. You curl into a ball, hugging your ribs. Time seems to slow as you watch her walk to you with anger in her eyes. She stands over you, protecting you. In her anger and hatred, she easily re-kills at least ten ghosts by herself. You struggle to catch your breath as the spots fade from your vision. You watch as the tall ghost reaches for her.  
“Holtzmann, no!” You yell. You know it isn’t possible for her two proton pistols alone to destroy the beast. You grab your proton wand and shoot at it with a blue beam. Along with Holtzman’s two beams, the power causes the ghost to disintegrate. Holtzmann drops the guns and they retract into her proton pack.  
“Ugh.” Holtzmann says as she turns around to face you. “You just got Holtzmanned, baby!” She yells. You look up at her. She bends down and picks up your sword. She hands it you without a word.   
“T-thanks.” You gasp in reply.   
“Don’t shoot that damn pack again.” She growls at you.  
“W-why?” You cough as she pulls you to your feet roughly. You suddenly feel light headed.  
“Blue is death. Blue cuts through human skin and bone and can make your pack explode from the power.” You notice a hole in her jumpsuit and a burn on her arm.  
“Holt-”  
“Save it. Go flirt with someone or something.” She growls. She pulls you lose to her. “By the way, I gave Erin that knife because she needed a weapon she could take home because her asshole boyfriend was following her home at night. I’m sorry that it just happened to be the one you gave me, but she needed to feel safe.” You had never seen such anger and aggression in her. For the first time, you were afraid of Holtzmann. Erin looks at the two of, she can’t hear you, but she knows she’s the reason you’re arguing. You can tell her heart is breaking. You and Holtzman walk back to the group. Holtzmann stands next to Abby and you stand by Patty, who wraps an arm around you.  
“Just let her cool off.” She whispers to you.  
“You know what? I’m glad I didn’t know any of you when you were alive ‘cause I don’t enjoy any of you, especially you!” Abby yells as she points as ghosts scattered along the ground.  
“Okay, alright, let's real it in-” Erin holds Abby’s arm and tries to calm her down.  
“I don’t like you either!”  
“Alright, we gotta save our energy.” Erin says. Abby nods, backing off. “Let’s go!”  
“Oh my god, you killed a pilgrim!” Abby says as you all step over ghost corpses.  
“It appears I did.” Erin says almost proudly. Holtzmann rips something off her proton pack and throws it on the ground.  
“Was that important?” You ask. She doesn’t answer. You walk up to the men and women in uniforms.  
“This is weird.” Abby whispers.  
“It sure is.” Erin agrees.  
“If they come alive, I’m out.” You mumble.  
“Maybe you should be out.” Holtzmann replies.   
“Okay, you two need to deal with that, right now.” Abby turns around and says to you both.  
“Hey, why you all like this?” Patty yells. “Something's up, man.” She says to you all.  
“Now.” Abby says.   
“Holtz, I’m sorry. I didn’t know that was what was going on.” You say quickly, knowing Holtz would only obey Abby while she was standing there.  
“Whatever.” She says, not looking at you. You cautiously take her hand as Abby walks away.  
“Thank you for saving me.” She doesn’t pull her hand away. You sigh. “I’m sorry I let my jealousy get the best of me.” You mumble. She doesn’t respond. Defeated, you let go of her hand and turn away from her. The sound of tires screeching and yelling changes everyone’s focus. It’s the Ecto-1. Two green creatures are in it now with a group of blue ghosts on top.  
“They’ve multiplied.” You and Holtzmann say in awe.   
“Well, that thing is having the time of it’s life.” Abby says. Patty nods in agreement as Holtzmann smiles a little. “Let’s go.” You all walk up to the building with green fog swirling around it.  
“In every movie I’ve seen, green is the color of evil.”  
“That explains why your mother’s favorite color is green.” Holtzmann mumbles. Patty suppresses a laugh as you grin at her. You take a deep breath and the five of you bravely walk towards the building.


	6. Chapter 6

You all stop in your tracks when the doors open by themselves. Holtzmann protectively places an arm out, ready to jump in front of you for protection. You all cautiously walk inside. Spirits fly out of a green vortex on the floor. You all stare in awe at the interior of the building. Suddenly, Erin’s feet fly out from under her. You all look at her in shock. She jumps back up with a gasp.  
“It feels like the slime is after me, personally. That’s all I’m saying.” Holtzmann has a ‘what are we having for lunch’ look on her face as she stares at the vortex. You nudge her with your elbow.   
“This might be a crazy hunch, but I think he's got that machine up and running again.” Abby sighs. “Come on.” She starts walking around the portal. You all follow. Suddenly, a piano begins to play a haunting tune as it quickly slides towards you.  
“Abby!” You yell as you yank her arm back, saving her from being squished by the piano. It hits the wall inches from Abby and shatters. You stare at the wreckage. “That could have been y-you.” You mumble.  
“Y-yeah, I know. Thanks for saving my ass.” Abby breaths.  
“Damn, I missed.” Kevin’s voice says. You all turn your attention to the source of the noise, a Kevin floating in mid air. You reach for Holtzmann’s hand in fear.  
“Oh, Kevin!” Abby says in relief.  
“Ah, is that what this thing’s name is? I thought he seemed more like a Chep to me.” He smiles. “Oh, I see there are six of you know.  
“Six?” You mumble as you and the others look around. A man in a red robe is staring at Kevin in fear.  
“Who are you?”  
“Oh, I'm Frank. I just came down to get some ice.” He mumbled, in awe of Kevin.  
“Get out of here!” Abby yells. “Get out!” Startled, he runs out of the building. He lets out a scream as he sees the mess outside.  
“I think we should've gave him a heads up about what was going on out there, y'all.” Patty says.  
“Eh, he’ll be fine. She is.” Holtzmann points to you.  
“I’m slowly losing all sanity and will to live.” You say flatly with a tranquil smile.   
“Heh, that’s not a good joke.” Holtzmann coughs.   
“Well, it's been a very long day. Why don't you take a seat?” Kevin interrupts as five chairs slide up behind you. “Please, sit.” You feel your knees lock. Something isn’t right, you just know it.  
“Don’t mind if I do.” Holtzmann says.  
“Holtz, no!” You shout.   
“Whoop!” Kevin says playfully as Holtz begins to sit down. The chair flies out from behind her, causing her to fall on the floor.  
“Okay.” Holtzmann laughs as you and Abby help her up. “I do appreciate the joke, it’s a classic.”  
“This isn’t the time for games.” You whisper to Patty.   
“I’ve learned not to question it and just roll with it.” She whispers back.  
“Oh, for fun.” Kevin laughs.  
“Okay, I know you're getting real comfy in your Kevin skinsuit, but it's time you hop out. We like him, despite his many, many frustrating quirks.” Abby says sternly, her proton wand ready to shoot.  
“He just started figuring out the phone!” Holtzmann chimes in.  
“Yeah!” Abby says.  
“Mmm... I don't know. Is this a little too Peter Pan?” He asks. “Anyway, I'll embrace it.” He flies to the top of one of the balconies.  
“He’s going to jump, I just know it.” You whisper to no one. You slowly begin to remove your pack, armed with only your proton weapon.  
“You know, to be honest with you, this guy's making me feel stupider by the second. He's all yours.” Kevin grins before something flies out of him and he falls off the balcony. You run after him, faster than the others without your proton pack, you slide under him so you break his fall, blacking out from the impact in the process.


	7. Chapter 7

“Come on, bitch, we can't carry you, too!” Patty shakes you.   
“Where's Kevin?” You ask as she pulls you to your feet and drags you towards Holtzmann. You quickly strap your proton pack back on.  
“That was some catch.” She smiles to you.  
“I'm going to feel it in the morning.” You smile back.   
“Come on, Rowan! Come get your virginity out of the lost-and-found!” Abby yells at the blue mass floating in the air. Everyone but you shoots at the ghost, you take your proton weapon and swing proton balls it.   
“You shoot like girls?” The mass says.   
“That’s the best you can come up with? Really?” You shout flatly. A proud smirk appears on Holtzmann’s face.   
“Twelve o’clock!” Abby yells as she and Erin shoot at the mass. Patty shoots at it too and follow it’s movements with her proton beam. The beam hits one of the hanging crystal shaped lights and breaks the chain holding it to the ceiling and sends it crashing to the ground. Erin and Abby have shocked looks on their faces.   
“I think you broke it.” Holtzmann says calmly. You stifle a laugh.   
“Look what you maed me do!” Patty yells, a spark flying from her proton wand as she does so.  
“This is rediculus, let’s get Kevin!” Abby yells as the mass suddenly becomes quiet. She and Erin each grab one of Kein’s arms. “I knew he was dumb as a box of rocks. I didn't know he's as heavy as one. What's he made out of?”  
“Pure muscle, oh and baby soft skin!” Erin replies as they drag him towards you. You, Holtzmann, and Patty wait for the mass’s return.  
“Come on, Rowan, show yourself!” Abby yells as she and Erin rush back into position.   
“What form would you prefer I take?” He says sweetly.   
“Um, maybe something stationary, like a bullseye.” Holtzmann smiles.   
“What about those targets that ooze?” You smile.   
“This isn’t a game!” Erin hisses.   
“Well, I’ll tell you what I prefer. I prefer something nice and cute like a friendly little ghost.” Patty says sarcastically.  
“Casper. Just say you’re asking for Casper.” You say flatly. Patty shoots you a look. Suddenly, on the other side of giant green hole, an animated version of the Ghostbusters logo appears.   
“Oh, is this what you want?” The ghost in the logo asks as it climbs out of the re dcircle containing it. The circle turns into a red bowtie around it’s neck. “Something more familiar?” It shrugs innocently.  
“Mmmh, ice cream.” Kevin mumbles by Abby’s feet.  
“Well, you know what, I don't have no problem with that. Thank you very much for being reasonable.” Patty says.  
“If this is what you want, it works for me.” The ghost says. It grows larger and more ralistic, quickly becomming bigger than Abby, then Holtzmann, then Erin, then you, and even bigger than Patty. It continues to grow.  
“Oh god, he, he’s really going for it.” Abby breathes.   
“I said cute, cute!” Patty yells.   
“Oh god.” Abby whispers as the ghost reaches the ceiling.   
“No. No, no, no. No.” Holtz says.  
“Fuck no.” You mumble.   
“Okay, this is not good.” Abby says as an evil grin spread’s across the ghost’s face.  
“No shit.” You mumble. A wave of green air knocks you all down and blows you out of the building and into the sea of people behind you. They fall to the ground with you. You sit up and stare at the building as you see the ghost crash to floor after floor of the building.  
“Run!” Abby yells. Holtzmann helps you up as you try to limp away quickly.  
“No time for this, baby. Come on!” Patty scoops you up in her arms and runs behind the rest of the team. You watch as the ghost outgrows the building. Patty rushes ahead of the group and Erin falls behind. You’re too busy staring at the ghost as he emerges from the building. He begins to chase you. You watch Erin turn around to face him, your heart catches in your throat for a second as she shoots at him, hitting the building beside him and sending sparks and debree in his face.   
“Come on!” Abby yells to her. “Erin!” She says again. Erin quickly catches up to the rest of you as you duck around a corner. You flinch at the ghost’s angry rorar.   
“Okay. Homeboy is pretty much not keeping up with what we agreed upon.” You all look in horror as the ghost walks past, crushing a taxt like it were an egg. “What part of ‘small and friendly’ did he not understand?” Patty asks.   
“Patty, shut up before he hears you!” You think.   
“Oh! What do we do now?” Erin whispers in a panic.  
“We gotta cross the streams.” Holtzmann says, worry flashing across her face. Seeing her worris strikes fear into your heart. Calm, cool, and collected Holtzmann never worries.   
“Wait, wait, wait. You mean that thing you were talking about that's so powerful that will make all of our atoms implode?” Erin asks, more panicked. A ‘what the fuck did I get myself into’ look appears on Patty’s face.   
“No, implode is the wrong word. It'll be more violent than that.” Holtzmann says, forcing her worry away and trying to be excited as she looks at the ghost.   
“We gotta cross 'em up, and we've got an extremely good shot at pulling all the ionized ecto-matter back into the dimension of its origin.” Abby says worriedly.  
“So, on the plus side, we save the world. And on the negative side, we experience the most painful death conceivable of all time.”   
“Yeah, it’s hard to shine that penny, but yeah.” Abby says.  
“Okay. Let’s do it.” Erin sighs.   
“Attagirl.” Abby smiles slightly. “Okay, let's go. Go, go, go!” You all rush out of the alley and toward the now unhidden portal. You Everyone stops at the edge and you all grab at Erin as she almost falls into the portal.   
“Whatch out!” You say as you grab at her sleve and help pull her back. You all take a moment to stare in amazement at the spirits flying about and the pieces of the hotel suspended in the air.   
“Alright, fire ‘em up!” Abby says. Patty quickly sets you down as gets her proton pack ready. You do the same. Abby is the first to fire into the portal, then Patty, then Erin, Holtzmann, and you. You proton pack lets out a blue beam and sends a painful cuttent down your back. You ignore it as you all connect the beams. You feel like you’re about to black out from the pain when a burst of green air blasts you all away from the portal. “The portal is too strong, we still don’t have enough power to reverse it!” Abby yells. You hear car tires screeching in the distance and quickly pick yourself up off the ground, not wating to get run over a second time today.  
“Yo, what about that nuclear thing on top of the car?” Patty says, turning to face the car.  
“If we can get those reactors super-critical inside the vortex, the beta radiation could 180 the polarity.” Holtzmann says.  
“Causing a total protonic reversal!”   
“It's gonna turn that portal into a giant ghost trap. You are a genius, Patty!” Abby says hopefully.  
“I’m a Ghostbuster.” Patty replies coolly.  
“Alright, let’s narrow his path!” Abby says. Everyone shoots at obhects near the Ecto-1 to force the green blob of a ghost to drive towards you.  
“Aim for the silver canisters.” Holtz says as you all jump out of the way of the oncomming car. You don’t dodge quickly enough and your leg gets hit by the car, knocking you off your intended course.


	8. Chapter 8

Holtzmann grabs the back of your jumpsuit as you dangle over the portal. “I’m not going to drop you.” She says she quickly pulls you up. The other girls begin to shoot at the canisters. Once she gets you out of portal, she does the same. Pain consumes your leg as you sit on the ground and aim your proton pack. A current once again goes through your body as your beam hits the canisters. The green of the portal turns red.  
“It’s working!” Erin yells excitedly as things are sucked back into the portal. You turn to face Rowan, who is holding onto two buildings to keep himself from falling into the portal. “ He's too strong. We can't let the portal close with him still here.” Holtzmann helps you to your feet as you rush towards the monstrosity that is Rowan.  
“Alright ladies, let’s loosen his grip!” Abby says. You all aim your proton wands at him. He lets out a growl that turns into a yelp of pain as the beams hit him. He releases the buildings.   
“Yo, that’s where you wanted us to shoot, right?” Patty asks.  
“Yes.” Abby says. Holtzmann and Patty take you and move away from the portal. Abby and Erin watch as Rowan comes closer to them. He trips over a fire truck and is sent face first into the portal.   
“Erin, Abby!” You yell as he begins to fall on them. You feel Holtzmann and Patty become tense. Your heart stops as he reaches for Erin and Abby.  
“Look out!” Abby yells as she quickly pushes Erin out of the way. You hold your breath as Rowan grabs Abby.  
“Abby!” Patty yells. You watch, horrified, as Rowan falls into the portal with Abby in his hand. Abby, the woman who became a close friend, has just been stolen from you and thrown into a portal. Can the portal even sustain life? Suddenly, your brain shuts off. Holtzmann looks scared and heartbroken at the loss of Abby. There is no joke she can make to lighten the mood, no dance she can create to make a smile. She looks as though someone just took away her will to live. You stop thinking and you rip yourself from Holtzmann and Patty’s grip as Patty’s scream rings in your ears. You limp towards the portal, ignoring Erin and everyone. You trip on a piece of debris, sending you to the ground. It doesn’t stop you, you crawl to the edge of the portal.   
“The portal’s closing!” Patty yells. “What are you doing?” She notices you.  
“Abby, hang on, I’m coming!” Erin yells.  
“What is she doing?” Patty yells, wondering if you’ve both gone insane.   
"Y/N! Get back here!" Holtzmann yells to you. She sounds like she's crying and maybe even panicking. You throw yourself into the portal head first before you see what Erin is doing. The portal is only red for a few feet. It quickly melts into a green. You see Rowan and Abby struggling in his hand. You try to rush toward her and shoot a blue beam at Rowan. Something in the portal makes the beam stronger, and the current it sends through your body even more painful. It hits Rowan’s shoulder. The current is too much for you this time. Excruciating pain and heat consumes your body. Before your vision goes dark, you see a red beam hit Rowan’s hand, sending Abby flying towards you. She has a look of surprise and worry on her face.


	9. Chapter 9

You wake up next to the portal. You see it closing in on itself and build rebuilding itself. You jump up and get out of the way before the building comes down ontop of you.  
“Come on, Holtzy, we gotta do something!” Patty yells as the two of them run toward the portal.   
“Holtz-” You stop yourself from talking as Holtzmann walks through you. You turn to watch her as she grabs the rope connected to Erin, who is still in the portal. The building rebuilds itself before you eyes.   
“We gotta get them out of there!” Patty yells as she grabs the rope.  
“Y/N, hold on!” Holtzmann yells as she grabs the rope as close to the door as she can get.  
“I’m right here, Holtz!” You say to her. You stand behind her and try to grab the rope aswell, your hands go through it.   
“We gotta get them out of there.” Holtzmann breaths as she works hard to yank the rope, causing it to cut into her fingers.   
“We gotta get them out of there!” Patty repeats.  
“Pull harder, PAtty!” HOltzmann yells, using all of her strength.  
“Holtzmann!” You say to her, trying to get her attention. It does nothing. Suddenly, you see Abby and Erin fly through the portal as it quickly closes. They’re yanked through the doors with you in their arms. Abby and Erin let out groans as they get up, not noticing their now white hair. You look at your body with confusion.  
“Shut up!” Holtzmann yells with excitement as she jumps up.  
“Hell yeah!” Patty grins. They rush towards Erin, Abby, and you.  
“Y/N!” Holtzmann grins as she reaches your limp body. You don’t move.   
“Y/N?” Abby asks as she kneels by your side. You watch as the four women gather around your body, their celebrating cut short.  
“Hey, guys.” Kevin smiles as he walks up, a sandwich in hand.  
“Do you feel a pulse?” Erin asks Abby as she gently places a hand on your wrist. Abby shakes her head.  
“Y/N, you gotta wake up!” Holtzmann says worriedly. Kevin becomes quiet. He gently pushes Holtzmann out of the way and begins to perform CPR on your chest.   
“Kevin, what are you doing?” Holtzmann yells as she tries to pull him off of you.   
“Hold on, Holtzy.” Patty says softly.  
“My annoying brother taught me this.” Kevin mumbles.  
“You have a brother?” Erin asks. “Does he look like you? What’s his name?” Abby gives her a glare.  
“Lo-Lucas.” He corrects himself. He falls silent as she continues to press on your chest and force air into your body. You feel your form changing, becoming weaker as your vision fades.  
“I feel a pulse!” Abby pipes up.


	10. Chapter 10

You feel weak and dead and sore. You hesitate to open your eyes.  
“Come on, Y/N, come back to us.” Erin whispers as she cradles your head in her lap.  
“Please wake up.” Holtzmann whispers as she holds you hand. You slowly open your eyes. Even that feels painful. You see the blue sky and the tall buildings around you. The next thing you notice is four women leaning into your field of vision.   
“Do you know who we are?” Abby asks loudly. You flinch at her yelling.  
“Y/N, it's 2040-” Holtzmann is cut off by Patty covering her mouth.   
“Lick me and I will reopen that portal and throw you into it.” Patty whispers threateningly. You try to force yourself to sit up, but freeze and flinch as your muscles feel like pins and needles. You let yourself fall back to the ground. You head feels like Hotz is pounding it like one of her contraptions.  
“Y/N, let’s get your pack off you.” Abby says softly. You yelp as the feeling of pins and needles consumes every muscle that gets moved.  
“I think the pack electrocuted her.” You hear Erin whisper.  
“No duh.” Holtzmann says casually. “I’ve experienced it many times, the pain eventually goes away.” She walks to Abby and Erin, glancing at your back. “But that burn might not.” She says, her tone changing and becoming more serious. She gets on her knees and looks at your jumpsuit. It’s still smoking slightly from the pack burning into it. “You might want to go put that in a dumpster, close the lid, and run like hell.” She says to Erin.   
“Wait, what?”  
“Like now.” Erin gives Abby a frightened look before running off with the pack into a nearby alley. “You’re wearing a shirt under your jumpsuit, right?” She asks you. You nod. She moves to face you and begins undoing the jumpsuit, revealing your bruised shoulder and irritated skin. You try to ignore the pins and needles feeling as Holtzmann works the jumpsuit off your arms and walks back behind you. You feel her gently lift the back of your shirt up.  
“That looks painful.” Abby mumbles.   
“Luckily the shirt and jumpsuit saved your spine from most of the damage.” Holtzmann says to you.  
“That’s great, Holtz.” You say, not really caring.   
“Hey guys, y’all seen Kevin anywhere?” Patty asks, looking around and noticing that Kevin had gone missing.  
“He probably wandered off, he’ll be fine.” Holtzmann says as she moves in front of you. She stares into your eyes.  
“What’s up, Holtz?” You force as small smile. You lose your strength and start to fall backward, Holtzmann grabs your arms, keeping you from falling.   
“You okay, baby?” Patty asks, sitting behind you and holding you upright.  
“Yeah, I’m fine.” You reply. You look at Holtzmann, who is still staring at you, but there’s something different about her demeanor. She lets go of your arms and throws herself at you, clinging to your neck and sending waves of pins and needles down your body. You gasp in surprise and pain as you wrap your arms around her.  
“Don’t ever do something so stupid again! I don’t want to lose you!” She says into your neck, trying to hold back tears.  
“He’s gone and my pack is going to explode any second, I don’t think you have to worry about it.” You smile.   
“It’s not funny you adorable idiot.”  
“Holtz is right, what you did was stupid and irresponsible and you could have been killed.” Abby starts to lecture.  
“You let yourself be bait and Erin jumped in after you. You aren’t one who should be talkin’.” Patty says flatly.  
“I got rid of the pack.” Erin gasps as she returns to the group, winded from running. “How long do you think before it-” An explosion rings through the air, causing you all, except for Holtz, to jump in fright. “Never mind.” Erin mumbles. Sirens ring out in the distance.   
“I think that might be your ride, baby.” Patty says.  
“Or the shockwave from the explosion.” Holtzmann says as she crawls off you.  
“We should probably go clean that up.” Abby says.  
“Nah, it’ll take care of itself.” The blonde smiles. “And I’ll take care of you soon enough.” She winks at you, causing you to roll your eyes despite the pain.  
“Go clean up your mess. I’ll stay with Y/N.” Patty says with frustration.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My Tumblr is back online! Apologies for any inconvenience!

After several fines for causing an explosion in an alley, a trip to the emergency room, a large medical bill, a ten minute search for Kevin, and two hair jobs, the five of you are in Abby and Patty’s favorite bar.  
“You shouldn’t have an alcohol.” Holtzmann says to you as a waitress brings a pitcher of beer to the table. “She’ll have a carbonated beverage with no added coloring, that can destroy the gallbladder.”  
“Do women have gallbladders?” Patty whispers to you. You shrug your shoulders in response.  
“We have Sprite?” The waitress says, confused by Holtzmann.  
“That will be fine.” You reply. Before Holtzmann can contradict, the waitress rushes off.  
“That has sugar in it; you really shouldn’t be trying to boost your energy with sugar.”  
“Holtzy, let her have a soda. She just helped save the world.” Patty sighs. Holtzmann gives her a silent stare.  
“with the government trying to claim the event wasn't supernatural, despite so many eyewitness accounts to the contrary. The big question is, was it the four women who refer to themselves as Ghostbusters who actually thwarted the attack? We may never know.” The TV catches your attention for a moment.  
“Well, now I know how Batman feels.” Erin laughs. Abby laughs as Erin begins to play with her hair.  
“You know what? You don't have to keep fiddling with it. I think it looks nice. Right?” Abby asks you all she pushes Erin’s hand away from her hair.  
“I'd talk to you at an AA meeting.” Holtzmann smirks before taking a sip of her beer. The waitress brings you a pitcher of soda.  
“Thank you.” You smile, trying not to laugh at Holtz’s comment.  
“It's my fault, anyway. The box said the color was called Garfield.” Erin mumbles. You all cringe at the name. “It wasn't even the cat. It was the president.”  
“Ew.” You mumble.  
“You know what? I want to make a toast.” Holtzmann says as she stands up.  
“Uh-oh.” Abby and Patty sigh.  
“Oh god.” You mumble with a slight smile. Holtzmann places her hand on your shoulder.  
“Physics is the study of the movement of, uh, bodies in space, and it can unlock the mysteries of the universe. But it cannot answer the essential question of what is our purpose here. And, to me, the purpose of life is to love. And to love is what you have shown me. I didn't think that I would ever really have a friend until I met Abby, and then I feel like I have a family of my own. And I love you. Thank you.” She says as she quickly clinks her glass on everyone’s and sits back down, staring intensely at the table like she’s about to throw up.  
“Thank-you. I mean, that was like a real thing right there.” Abby says, awestruck.  
“Who are you and where is my Holtzmann?” You smile. She glances at you and wraps you in a painful hug.  
“I'm so sorry I'm late.” Ms. Lynch says as she walks up to the table.  
“Oh.”  
“Ew.” You mumble.  
“We want to thank you for your discretion. It's not working at all, but thank you. Actually, we'd like you to continue to study this subject, fully funded. You know, we need to be better prepared, just in case.”  
“Yeah. Yes, that's smart” Erin mumbles.  
“Whatever you need, going forward. Anything at all.” The woman says.  
“Anything?” Erin asks.  
“Anything.”


	12. Chapter 12

“So this place is really ours?” You ask Erin as the five of you stand in front of an old firehouse.  
“Yes, it is ours.” She says matter-of-factly.   
“Hell yeah!” Patty smiles. A grin spreads across Holtzmann’s face.  
“Second floor is mine.” Holtzmann says, you can tell ideas are running through her head.  
“You can't claim a whole floor.” Patty says to her.  
“I just did.” Holtzmann says as she rushes towards the building.  
“You can't…” Patty trails off as she follows after Holtzmann. “You can't do that, Holtzy!” You smile as the two of them race to the building.  
“Not bad, ghost girl.” Abby says to Erin.  
“Thank you; and I proudly take that title.” Erin smiles as Abby wraps her in a hug. You look back at the building; curiosity and excitement fill your chest. Suddenly, Abby whistles to you, getting you attention. You look at her, she has one arm around Erin and the other stretched out to you. You walk toward her and she grabs you, wrapping you in the hug as well. Your back is still sore from the burn on it, but not as much as it originally was.  
“Look at that, girls, we did that.” She sighs. You open your mouth to say something but then a hearse, similar to the Ecto-1 pulls up to the firehouse.  
“Is that...” Erin trails off.   
“Patty's uncle.” Abby finishes. Patty walks out of the firehouse as a tall man steps out of the hearse.  
“Unk!” Patty smiles to the man.   
“Where is it?” He asks, cutting to the purpose of his visit.  
“What are you talking about? I told you what happened.” Patty asks, confused.  
“Where's the car?”  
“It's on the other side.”  
“In Jersey?”  
“No, in the portal!”  
“Uh, huh...” He trails off.  
“You know what? We should probably let them just work this out.” Abby says as she and Erin rush to the building. Abby turns around and grabs you by the arm. “Come on, let’s go check on Holtz.” She says as she drags you inside.  
“But I want to see what happens!” You whisper to her as she closes the door behind you.   
“There’s the love of my life!” Holtzmann calls from the second floor. Within moments she’s sliding down the fire pole. You expect her to look at you; instead she turns to the fire pole and kisses it. “God, I love that thing.”  
“Jillian, I don’t think that’s sanitary.” Erin says.  
“You aren’t allowed to kiss me with that mouth.” You say. Abby lets out a laugh.  
“Alright guys, we’ve got a lot of unpacking to do.” Erin says with a smile. You all spend what feels like years unpacking boxes, but it was really only a few weeks, while Holtzmann tinkers away at her desk, somehow avoiding the work.  
“Hey, Holtz,” you finally say as you set a box down by her crowded desk. “why aren’t you helping unpack?” She looks up at you and smirks.   
“Because I have to build stuff to capture the ghosts.”   
“Can I help? I’m tired of these boxes.” You smile.  
“No, you can’t. Our insurance only covers Holtz blowing herself up in the lab, not one of us.” Patty replies as she sets a box by Erin’s desk. “Besides,” she stretches her sore body “that’s the last box.”  
“So we’re done?” You ask.  
“Pretty much.”  
“One more box!” Abby calls as she walks up the stairs with a large box in her arms.  
“Aww, Abby, come on! I’m tired of carrying box after box after box!” You complain.  
“It’s not your box.” Erin says to you. You breathe a sigh of relief. “Hey, how's this containment unit?” Erin asks Holtz as she sets the box on a counter. You sit in a chair by Holtz’s workstation, trying to play with a contraption of your own you had started late last night.  
“Oh, you got that up and going?” Abby asks.  
“Oh, that? Oh, that's going real smooth. Uh, I just would say don't be in a room with it for more than an hour at a time, because I'm thinking a lot of hair loss.”   
“Oh, well, that might be something we want to work on.” A woman with crazy hair similar to Holtzmann’s walks up to the four of you. “Uh, hi. Hello. Sorry, I didn't know anyone else was here.”  
“What a ding-a-ling. I forgot to introduce. This is my mentor, Dr. Rebecca Gorin.” Abby and Erin’s mouths open in surprise.  
“This is reckless, Jillian.” The woman says matter-of-factly. “All someone has to do is sneeze too hard and everyone in this building is going to disintegrate.”  
“It's completely unstable.” Holtzmann laughs playfully. Dr. Gorin turns to one of Holtz’s machines, the only one with a safety light. “Do we need this safety light?”   
“Safety lights are for dudes.”  
“Safety lights are for dudes.” Dr. Gorin repeats proudly as Holtzmann high fives her. “I hate doing that.”  
“Hey, y'all need to come check this out.” Patty calls from the stairs. “Come up to the roof.” You, Holtzmann, Erin, and Abby follow her, leaving Dr. Gorin to do whatever she was doing.  
“Is that for us?” Erin asks in awe.   
“I guess some people actually do know what we did.” Patty smiles.   
“Well, that's not terrible.” Abby says with a slight smile.   
“No, it's not. It's not terrible at all.” Erin says.  
“That’s amazing.” You mumble in awe.  
“So are you.” Holtzmann whispers in your ear as she wraps an arm around your waist and rests her head on your shoulder. “But don’t ever risk your life like that again.”  
"I'm not making promises." You smile to her. "It's hard not to risk my life with your contraptions." Holtzmann lets out a laugh.  
"God, I love you."


End file.
